DFW and

New DFW story in the New Yorker. 'Good People.' I about shit when I saw it. I hadn't intended to buy anything at Barnes and Noble, was just following a friend, then ended up with two seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm, as it was buy one get one free. Then I decided to hit the magazine stand to see what lit mags they carry at this branch, and got stopped by the New Yorker. Happened to glance to see what fiction was in it-- sometimes they surprise. They surprised. As I said, I about shit. I took it home without considering that the story was probably available for free online.

I'm not sure how I felt about the story. It was not what I was expecting after waiting so long since his last fiction (4 years?-- I'm not sure when the last piece from Oblivion was out-- that's the last I remember-- anyhow a while). His work means a lot to me. Infinite Jest was the first book that made me want to try to be a writer. This story was about 2 Christian kids contemplating abortion. It was filled with a lot of his usual in-the-mind-of-the-character thought distribution, well done to sound like a young Christian. There were a couple of other elements that hit me- the presence of a man standing near them at a lake, the purpose of whom is never really explain, though adding to the ambiance of the setting strangely. It made me feel weird to read the story. If I'd read it with another author's name I probably would have thrown it out. Something, though, about the way he processes thought, even in a voice as benign as this one's, clicks in my head. I imagine the story comes from the large chunk of a book that's been referred to in multiple interviews. I anticipate.


I'm not sure what I'm going to do writing on this thing. I may just blabber and not mention that its alive. Every fucker has a blog yes why not why not.